Judge Patrick Kennedy cleared the former hockey star on all charges. Kennedy took almost two hours to read his decision, indicating there was a high degree of evidence pointing to Ryder’s opportunity to commit the offence. However, he said, the burden of proof was not met by the Crown.

The trial was based around a video of the robbery and circumstantial evidence of Ryder’s activities on the night of the robbery. Nobody could positively identify the suspect in the video, and there was no forensic evidence linking Ryder to the scene of the crime. Ryder’s behaviour at the time was unusual which, according to testimony in court, was due in part to mental illness that was diagnosed after the robbery.

Kennedy said the evidence “does not draw the net tightly enough around the accused.”

Hopefully Daniel Ryder is in the process of getting the help he needs to turn his life around, even if hockey left the picture quite a while ago.